Garden designer’s book helps keep the kids busy outdoors

Want to hold a snail race in the back garden? No, it’s not an Alice in Wonderland fantasy, but a real possibility. Draw two chalk circles, one within the other.

Line up your snails — each with a different-coloured little sticker on their shells — on the outer circle, facing in toward the inner one, and watch them go!

And, of course, keep them out of the sun and put them back where you got them after the ‘race’ is over, says Dawn Isaac, the author of a new book, 101 Things For Kids To Do Outside.